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Insurers payments to hospitals vary significantly by region

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jordan Rau reports: Adding another piece to the argument that some hospitals are making huge profits from insurers, a new study finds great differences in hospital rates, with San Francisco the most expensive of eight areas that were examined (Rau, 11/18).

20 Nov 2010

Reprogrammed amniotic fluid cells can generate iPS cells

Reprogrammed amniotic fluid cells can generate all types of body cells. High hopes rest on stem cells: one day, they may be used to treat many diseases. To date, embryos are the main source of these cells, but this raises ethical problems. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin have now managed to convert amniotic fluid cells into pluripotent stem cells.

20 Nov 2010

No agreement on health cost containment at bipartisan commission

The Obama administration's bipartisan commission studying efforts to reduce the nation's debt remained at odds after three days of closed door meetings - on how to deal with health care costs.

20 Nov 2010

States focus on Medicaid budget challenges

Nearly missed in the noise from newly elected politicians vowing to upend the Obama administrations health care reform law was a federal decision allowing California to start implementing it and improve its fiscal situation in the process. On Election Day, California got word it would receive $10 billion in federal Medicaid money to extend coverage to some 500,000 people who are currently uninsured. ...

20 Nov 2010

Consuming a variety of fruit reduces lung cancer risk by 23%

Eating five portions of fruit and vegetables per day is one of the means that experts most frequently recommend for preventing cancer. Now, the European EPIC study carried out by researchers from 10 countries has shown that, in the case of lung cancer, the important thing is not just the quantity but also the variety of fruit consumed, which can reduce the risk by up to 23%.

20 Nov 2010

Senate acts on Medicare doctor pay fix

Although the Senate agreed to postpone for one month cuts in Medicare physician payments, the House must still act, too, in order to delay a scheduled fee reduction that will kick in Dec. 1.This very short-term approach is likely to frustrate the physician community.

20 Nov 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

New This Week In The Kaiser Global Health Policy Tracker: The President's Malaria Initiative announced a new focus country and USAID released a new fact sheet on the agency's reform initiative. Kaiser's Policy Tracker provides a timely single reference point for the latest information on congressional and administration action on global health.

20 Nov 2010

A hospital chiefs tough task in tough times: cut costs, improve quality

Kaiser Health News staff writer Peggy Girshman spoke with Judy Rich, president and CEO of the Tucson Medical Center.

20 Nov 2010

State roundup: California PPOs 'low marks'; Geriatric nursing; Physician shortages

News outlets covered a range of developments including workforce issues in Minnesota and California, and a Kentucky order for insurers to provide child-only policies.

19 Nov 2010

Political cartoon: Mayberry R.F.D.?

Kaiser Health News provides a political cartoonist's perspective on health policy developments with "Mayberry R.F.D.?" by Eric Allie.

19 Nov 2010

U.S. falling short of its goals to improve access to clean water, sanitation worldwide, report says

The U.S. is falling short on its goal of improving conditions for the 2.6 billion people worldwide without access to clean water and sanitation despite the fact the Water for the Poor Act became law in 2005, according to a report released Thursday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), WaterAid, CARE and 11 other organization, Food Safety News reports.

19 Nov 2010

Xgeva receives FDA approval for prevention of SREs in patients with bone metastases

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Xgeva (denosumab) on Thursday to help prevent skeletal-related events (SREs) in patients with cancer that has spread (metastasized) and damaged the bone. Skeletal-related events include bone fractures from cancer and bone pain requiring radiation.

19 Nov 2010

Baxter enters definitive agreement to acquire all hemophilia-related assets Archemix

Baxter International Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the hemophilia-related assets of a privately-held biopharmaceutical company, Archemix, and entered into an exclusive license agreement for certain related intellectual property assets.

From Baxter International Inc. 19 Nov 2010

World Bank report examines member banks' response to global economic downturn, highlights effect on global poverty

By the end of this year, an additional 64 million people will fall into extreme poverty as a result of the global economic downturn that started in 2008, the World Bank said in a study on "member banks' response" to the situation, Reuters reports.

19 Nov 2010

Today's OpEds: Opposing views on hospital medical errors; lesson for Andy Harris; Dems and abortion

If a 747 jetliner crashed every day, killing all 500 people aboard, there would be a national uproar over aviation safety and an all-out mobilization to fix the problem. In the nation's hospitals, though, about the same number of people die on average every day from medical "adverse events," many of them preventable errors such as infections or incorrect medications.

19 Nov 2010

AAO to recognize UH optometry dean with Charles F. Prentice Medal Award

Earl L. Smith III, O.D., dean of the College of Optometry and Greeman-Petty Professor at the University of Houston, is the 2010 recipient of the Charles F. Prentice Medal Award from the American Academy of Optometry.

19 Nov 2010

Cold Spring releases new series of laboratory manuals

Sophisticated techniques that permit the visualization of dynamic processes in cells, tissues, and organ systems at extraordinary levels of resolution have become tremendously valuable in biological research. However, finding the right imaging method and optimizing it for data collection can be a daunting process, even for an established imaging laboratory. To fill this need, a new series of laboratory manuals has been developed by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. The first volume in this series, Imaging: A Laboratory Manual, has just been released.

19 Nov 2010

Report examines how health care reform affects personal costs, coverage, quality of service

Although most people's knowledge of the new health care law is limited, their opinion on how it will affect their health care depends on what type of private health insurance plan they currently have and their political affiliation, according to a recent report issued today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

19 Nov 2010

Glenn Foundation awards $60,000 grant to Scripps' scientist for biomedical research

While scientists depend on grants for their research, applying for them is a long and frequently frustrating process. For one Scripps Research Institute scientist, however, the process was shorter.

19 Nov 2010

Stromedix obtains license from UCSF for integrin αvβ5 antibody

Stromedix, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on innovative therapies for fibrosis and organ failure, announced today that it has exclusively licensed the rights to a monoclonal antibody to integrin αvβ5 from the University of California. This compound is the second Stromedix pipeline asset to be sourced from the laboratory of Dean Sheppard, M.D., at University of California, San Francisco.

19 Nov 2010

Research News and Research

Insurers payments to hospitals vary significantly by region

Reprogrammed amniotic fluid cells can generate iPS cells

No agreement on health cost containment at bipartisan commission

States focus on Medicaid budget challenges

Consuming a variety of fruit reduces lung cancer risk by 23%

Senate acts on Medicare doctor pay fix

Recent releases in Global Health

A hospital chiefs tough task in tough times: cut costs, improve quality

State roundup: California PPOs 'low marks'; Geriatric nursing; Physician shortages

Political cartoon: Mayberry R.F.D.?

U.S. falling short of its goals to improve access to clean water, sanitation worldwide, report says

Xgeva receives FDA approval for prevention of SREs in patients with bone metastases

Baxter enters definitive agreement to acquire all hemophilia-related assets Archemix

World Bank report examines member banks' response to global economic downturn, highlights effect on global poverty

Today's OpEds: Opposing views on hospital medical errors; lesson for Andy Harris; Dems and abortion

AAO to recognize UH optometry dean with Charles F. Prentice Medal Award

Cold Spring releases new series of laboratory manuals

Report examines how health care reform affects personal costs, coverage, quality of service

Glenn Foundation awards $60,000 grant to Scripps' scientist for biomedical research

Stromedix obtains license from UCSF for integrin αvβ5 antibody

Spectroscopy Applications in the Environment eBook eBook

Leveraging the power of automation to boost research

Automating research - solutions and best practices

How can microdialysis benefit drug development

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